Optimization of the movements of a component placement machine (Q1111924)

The efficient operation of an automatic electronic component placement machine is considered. The machine inserts electronic components into predefined places on a printed circuit board. The components are supplied from a set of feeders each containing a sequence of identical components. We treat the problem as two different sequencing problems. The optimal insertion sequence for a fixed feeder setting is obtained by considering the problem as a three-dimensional asymmetric traveling salesman problem. The optimal permutation of the components in the feeders for a fixed insertion sequence can be formulated as a quadratic assignment problem. The overall problem is solved heuristically and this approach brings suboptimal, but in practice good enough component insertion sequences and feeder permutations.